Mental Health & The Justice System, with Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren | EDB 221

Mental Health Court trailblazer Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren discusses community and legal support for the neurodiverse.

(30 minutes) Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren is a county court judge in the Criminal Division of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Broward County, Florida. She is an adjunct professor, Nova Southeastern University, Criminal Justice Institute. Judge Lerner-Wren was appointed by Chief Judge Dale Ross to administer and preside over the Nation's first Mental Health Court. She is responsible for leading and coordinating this specialized criminal, problem solving, diversionary court to address the complexities of mentally ill offenders arrested on nonviolent misdemeanor offenses and to improve the administration of justice for those with serious mental health and psychiatric disorders.

The Broward County Mental Health Court, through its application of Therapeutic Jurisprudence, is recognized as best practice and showcased at The White House Conference on Mental Health in 1999. It was the model for the Federal Legislation passed by Congress in 2000 in comprehensive Mental Health Act to promote Mental Health Courts nationwide (Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2000). Judge Lerner-Wren was appointed by former President George W. Bush to serve on the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in 2002. She served as Chair of The Criminal Justice Sub-Committee.

Judge Lerner-Wren speaks nationally and internationally on wide variety of topics, including problem-solving courts, cultural change leadership, mental health courts, therapeutic jurisprudence, and legal innovation

For more about Judge Ginger: https://twitter.com/judgewren

Judge Ginger’s wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Lerner-Wren

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